LAHORE: With 17 more deaths, 535 more people tested positive for the virus during the last 24 hours in Punjab.

According to the Covid-19 update received on Saturday, the total number of deaths in Punjab reached 4,387 and the confirmed cases of the virus 148,488. Of the new positive cases, 285 were reported from Lahore, 24 from Rawalpindi and 16 from Multan.

A spokesperson for the health department said the Punjab government had provided sufficient facilities to the critical and other patients of the virus in the 256 state-run hospitals of the province. He said 2,179 beds with the facility of oxygen had also been provided in order to accommodate maximum number of patients visiting with shortness of breath or low saturation.

Similarly, he said, another critical facility of ventilator had also been made available for the patients in government hospitals of Punjab in sufficient number. Of the total ventilators, 249 were available in Lahore’s hospitals designated for coronavirus patients, 71 in Multan, 70 in Rawalpindi and 48 in Faisalabad, the spokesperson for the health department said.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021